Fuselage



I. HENDERSON.

FUSELAGE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I. I9I1.

Patented Aug. 19, 1919.

Ime/a?? JOHN HENDERSON, or cnIcAGo, ILLINOIS.

FUSELAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 19, 1919.

. application mea octane; 1, iai?. semi No. 194,149.

To all whom z't may concern Be'it knownfthat I, JOHN HENDERSON, a

` subject of the King of ,Great Britain, and

dinal frame members 4. At the forward end a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fuselages, of which the following is a specification.

The main object of this invention is to provide for aeroplanes and similar devices, an improved frame structure havin the desirable qualities of lightness, flexibi ity, and strength, and particularly capable of withstanding tlie torsional stresses and strains resulting from the engine and propeller reactions and unbalanced forces acting on the rudder, elevators, win s, and ailerons, when in Hight. A further o ject of the invention Y 1s to make unnecessary the Ause of'wires, brackets, turnbuckles, or other small fastenin in the frame structure which are likely toecome broken.

A specic embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whch- Figure 1 is a plan view of a monoplane showing the improved frame structure and en e support in dotted lines.

Flilg. 2 is a fragmentary sectional detail illustrating a suitable arrangement of the s iral and longitudinal frame members and o the method of connecting the frame vmembers together at the front end of the fuselage. j

Fi 3 is a fragmentary detail showing .a sm'ta le method of connecting the longitudinal-frame members and the helical rib members of the frame.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of a modified form wherein the helical ribs lare formed by crimping the shell plating and applying the same in the form of a spiral strip with overlapping ed es.

In t e form own,'the fuselage comprises a skeleton frame, having a torpedo shape and made up of helical frame members or ribs 1 and 2 suitably reinforced by longituof the aeroplane, the helical and longitudinal members are secured to an annular late or frame 3 to which the engine may e conveniently attached. The longitudinal members of the frame may be outside or inside of the helical rib members, this being merely a matter of desi The spiral ripreferably have a short pitch and may be few in number, two being shown in the drawings, each extending from end to end of the fuselage. These ribs may be of any suitable sectional form. In the form shown, they are made of flat strips bent along longitudinal lines so as to have a T -bar cross section as shown in Fig. 3. At their forward ends, both sets of ribs are secured to an annular plate 3, and at their rear ends and'also at each point of passing of the longitudinal members 4, are welded or otherwise fastened to the spiral members. By welding together the longitudinal members and helical transverse members at their intersections, thereby forming an autogenoous union at each intersection, the entire framework becomes an integral structure, each portion reinforcing the adjacent portions 1n resisting and distributing the strains and stresses to which an aeroplane is freuently subjected. The supporting planes 5, e evators 6, and rudder 7, may be mounted on the fuselage in substantially the usual manner, and t e framework of these devices may wherever practicable be provided with spiral members as in the fuselage.

A cockpit, or space for the operators seat, controlling devices, navigating instruments, and so forth, may be provided by inserting a suitable frame and cutting away or bending downward such of the spiral or longitudinal frame members as would otherwise extend across such space. The flexibility or rigidity of the-'frame is determined by the number of spiral ribs and longitudinal members and their cross sectional areas, and it will be readily seen that the use of spiral ribs for the transverse frame element rovides great strength, with lightness, w ile at the same time having any desirable degree of rigidity or flexibility.

The outer shell 9 may be fastened directly to the outer frame members'or may be fastened to wooden battens 8 as shown in the drawings. The fuselage may be hollow and substantially free from transverse struts, and

therefore afford maximum storage space.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood that details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted without departin from the spirit of this invention as defined y the following claims.

I claim:

1. A fuselage for aeroplanes, comprising a metal framework having longitudinal frame members, and a continuous transverse member extending helically from end to end and the spirals thereof engaging each of said longitudinal members and being Welded at the intersections, thereby fornnng an integral frame structure.

2. A fuselagefor aeroplanes, comprising a metal framework having a plurality of spaced longitudinal frame members,

bers, are continuous from end to end thereof and are autogeneously united thereto at the intersections to thereby form an integral frame structure.

Signed at Chicago this 28th day of September, 1917.

i JOHN HENDERSON.

transverse spiral rib'member, the spirals of 10 whlch engage eaeh of said longitudlnal niem- 

